I'm looking for a Gen. 2 or 3 night vision rifle scope for hogs and coyotes. Have any of you used a good one that you would recommend? I will hunt at relatively short distances (100 yds or less) so, power range isn't that important. Just want a good clear and dependable unit.

Also, have any of you used the NV rifle scope adapters that fit over the front of a regular rifle scope?
Thanks for any input.

the ultimate! www.jagerpro.com check out the store.

I was considering the night vision also but after checking the prices on G2 and G3 equipment I thought I'd try a different route. Think I'm going to try the Laser Genetics ND5 light to scout the fields and the ND3x50 to mount on my scope and see how that set up works. I've ordered the ND5 already and will probably get the ND3x50 next week.

I am also looking into getting a NV scope, on a budget, bass pro and cabelas sell a gen2+ unit for 400 bucks, i'll look up the name later, but has anyone used this unit?

check that the unit is 500 and its a gen 1. ATN Aries 390 is the model. has anyone used these?

useing the ND3 now and its OK but they don't have a 30mm mount for a scope and thats a bummer.

Other than the scope mount issue, what's your findings with the ND3 so far?

What's the advantage of it over a spotlight or high powered flashlight? I know it's a green laser, but does that really not spook animals like they claim?

I sold it for several years. Gen 1 is pretty useless past about 20 yards. Gen 2 is ok out to about 60 yards, Gen 3 depending on the brand works well out to about 90 yards on a starry night and 110 yards on a moonlit night.
I would not even mess with any Gen 1 stuff a good scope the same price and a flashlight works as well.
Try Yukon optics in Mansfield they have some pretty good gen 2 and 3 stuff, pricey though.

Two 10's...The Laser Genetics equipment fits my budget a lot better than the NV for now. How good is it out to say 50-60 yds. and does it spook the animals? I'm ready to kick some hog butts, so I'm hoping you have a good report.

TxYote...Let me know how the ND5 and ND3X50 works out.

Thanks Guys

ATN has serious QC issues and some can adversely affect your health. There's radiating materials in those things, and ATN's QC or lack of it means some of that is not shielded like it should be and you're staring into it.


TNVC will set you up without raping you with good Gen 2 and Gen 3 stuff.

With night vision like any other optics, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

I've spent years looking through issued NV, and the difference between some cheapo Russian crap and an issued PVS-14 or PVS-24, 27, etc. is literally night and day.

A PVS-24 mounted in front of a regular scope can make effective man-sized body hits at 500m in total darkness (seen it) headshot any moron could make at 100m in same (done it) and 300m facial recognition shots (if you had Osama bin Laden standing next to Billy Graham, you could identify between the two). They run $6500 for a reason.

A PVS-14 ($3k) mounted behind an Aimpoint ($550ish) can hit anything you can see out to 100-200m easily. If you have an IR illumintor for really dark spots, you can hit further out, it's just a problem of ID'ing the target with no magnification. I can nail a man size target in the body with that combo all night long without even trying.

TNVC has stuff that will give you similar performance for not QUITE that much.

An option to consider is the Pulsar Digisight N550. While it doesn't have the resolution of Gen 3, I have used it well beyond 100 yds on moonlit nights and would strongly recommend over Gen 2. I got it because I just couldn't bring myself to spend the $$ for Gen 3. $1400 will put you in the night hunting biz and get some nice features to boot.

I just bought the ATN and like victor bravo said QC could be better, havnt hunted with it yet, just looked around in the dark with it it works pretty good and it was only 400 bucks, i figured id buy the cheap scope before i got dropped 3K or so on a scope. the only complaint i have is it has a black spot on the lower part of glass and its brand new, other than that not a bad gig for the money. the only other thing i've heard is that they don't hold a zero after a bunch of rounds, but i'll have to see for my self, just my $.02

heres a pic of it mounted on my bushmaster

All I can say is buy once and cry once. Have tried alot of those cheaper scopes and finally just bit the bullet and went with Gen 3 stuff and will never look back. There is no cheap good night vision equipment out there. If you want good stuff then buy good stuff.

I would have to agree wih alot of the posts above. I went many years looking at various scopes and monoculars. After researching it, there seemed to be two groups of people...

Those that went cheap and were disappointed in the performance and then bought quality equipment and those that saved and bought quality the first time.

I then spent about an hour on the phone with Vic at TNVC. He explained the differences and provided one of the best customer service experiences I've had. He knows his stuff and will guide you in the right direction.

I finally ended up purchasing a 6x Gen3 Autogated scope for my rifle with a select tube and no, you can't get that at Cabelas. The idea behind the select tubes is to minimize the "black dots" that were described above. Again, I only wanted to make this purchase once so it was minimal in cost in comparison. It has an adjustable reticle both for brightness and color.



Since I hunt with friends most of the time, I also purchased a monocular and helmet. It is also a Gen3 Autogated PVS-14 with select tube. The PVS-14 can also be mounted behind an Eotech type site and I will probably be converting one of my firearms to take that in the near future:



The performance of these units, in my opinion has been incredible. I also added a "torch" IR illuminator for each of them that throws an adjustable IR light source that not only makes it almost too bright in the scope but also lights eyes up from hundreds of yards away.

I let Clean borrow for a couple weeks when I was in Texas and I think he was impressed as well...and can tell you how it worked at his lease....

Looking forward to getting back down there in another week or so to play with it some more!!

Uncle buck thats a cool set up right there. I have the D-740 with hand selected tube mounted on a Barrett Rec 7(6.8)cal. Also have a PVS 14 that is used for scanning. Oh yea I got one of those Torch Ir from TNVC and it is by far the best IR out there. Quality does not come cheap but if you want night vision then I stress to do it once and do it right.

Buck, if you're running an Eotech that's not a "7mm taller" model (553, 557, etc), but a standard model (XPS, 512, 552, etc) a LaRue LT110 Eotech mount has a little piece of rail on the rear. An LT133 I believe it is (it's been a while) is the specific PVS-14 mount made to mount them together so it's one unit. For rifle-mounted NVG shooting, with an Eotech, it can't be beat. I prefer Aimpoints, but I've spent a considerable amount of time shooting in the dark with a 552/PVS-14 using that setup.

Victor....thanks for the info. I haven't gone with the Eotech at this point, but something will be added in the near future.

I'm not committed to the Eotech at this point though. Why do you prefer the Aimpoint over the Eotech?

Because they work. Short of extreme stupidity, unexplained "weird" variables or a direct bullet strike/IED hit not much stops an Aimpoint. I used an M2 on duty for 3 years clearing buildings. Rain, snow, sandstorms, ice, hail, keeps running. Same battery.

Average battery life for an M2 is 10,000 hours turned on all the time. M3 series, 50,000, M4 and T-1/H-1 series (newest) 80,000 hours. Had a friend who forgot his T-1 was turned on, deployed to Afghanistan for a year and a half, came back, it was still on in the safe.

Eotechs, being a holograph, are power hogs. They never run past 1,000 hours no matter what they say. Some are excellent and survive everything, but most tend to die unexpectedly. Part of this was design (the battery box) which is why the new XPS has the battery sideways (under recoil the battery smacking back and forth killed the contacts in the older ones).

I've spoken to enough people who've had EOtechs die mid-firefight, or rolled out on a call as cops and hit the power button to find themselves holding a limp schwang and having to run the irons, on a large-scale basis (one guy I know as a unit armorer responsible for over 200 Eotechs has had to factory-replace 80+ within a year, not counting eats-batteries-issues).

I currently have 2 Eotechs, because free still= free and I had no optic. But when your life depends on it, run an Aimpoint. I've (not intentionally) taken a full body slam on concrete on top of mine and it didn't even get a scratch. That's a 180 lb man, in 30 lb of armor, with 40 lb of equipment on, at a dead run, diving on top of a rifle landing on the optic. Didn't hurt it a bit. An Eo might survive that, but i'd wonder.

I sold optics for a living for a year plus after getting out. To a man those I worked with (all combat veterans, infantry. In my case, my one deployment was basically a vacation, no shots fired) used Aimpoints for close-in work by preference. We'd sell you an Eotech but only if you absolutely insisted on it and understood what you were getting.

I know a couple high-level special operations guys who use Eotechs for a very specific role, but they also swap batteries every mission (like......every few hours) and have both backup rifles and optics available, as well as fellow team members handy if the optic craps out.

For a one-size-fits-all solution, especially using NV i prefer the Aimpoints. The T-1, M4 are the newest-best but the M2 and M3 still run just fine if you find a deal on them (been looking myself actually).

The only mount i'll run is LaRue.

Victor...thanks for the info. I'll take a look at them later in the week! UB

NutnFancy has a youtube tabletop review of both the EOtech and aimpoint makes me lean toward an aimpoint if I decide to go with a red dot scope.

He's a Lt. Col and a KC-135 pilot in the reserves.

He's an expert on aircraft. When it comes to guns, he's pretty much about as educated as the average guncounter guy (not the greatest but decent). I've spoken to him. Nice guy, but not an expert.

I agree, but every little bit helps for us (specially me) that are just now getting to those types of firearms and the toys that go with them. watching some of those vids and asking questions here has definately help me make some decisions.

Aimpoint is more durable no doubt about it, but most use EO for night vision for a larger field of view. All preferance.

I just got the new M845 Mark 4 2.8X scope from TNVC, and its awesome!! For the price its tough to beat.

I've found the Eotech field of view effectively the same for me using PVS-14's on usable field of view.

Having spent years staring through Aimpoints, i prefer them, but the Eotech, if you understand the problems, works well (when they work).